A relationships guide for new NYC mayor

As Bill de Blasio was inaugurated Wednesday as the mayor of New York City, those on stage included a who’s who of top dignitaries, and their proximity to the podium signaled their importance to the city’s new leader. The closest? Hillary Clinton. Next up: Bill Clinton, who swore in the new mayor. Also in the front row: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

For de Blasio, these four figures are not just prominent politicians whose positions alone would have granted them seating privileges. They are among several people he will have some sort of relationship with in the coming years, whether personal, professional, or simply in the public imagination.

Here are seven key relationships New York City’s 109th mayor must manage in the days ahead:

Barack Obama

The president had a strong professional relationship with Bloomberg, but a grudging personal one. His relationship with de Blasio is still in its early stages, though the existence of mutual friends could help it blossom.

De Blasio’s best friend is Patrick Gaspard, and the new mayor has cited Gaspard as a key adviser even from across the oceans in his current post as ambassador to South Africa. Gaspard was the president’s political director before becoming executive director of the Democratic National Committee, and he remains in touch with the White House.

Gaspard helped bring the new mayor together with Obama, starting long before de Blasio’s candidacy took off by taking the then-public advocate and his family backstage to meet the president at an event in Philadelphia.

Another connection is Obama’s political strategist, David Axelrod. Axelrod is a mentor, friend and former partner of de Blasio’s top political consultant, John DelCecato, whose own ties to Obama run deep. A campaign adviser who cut some of the president’s re-election ads, Del Cecato also coached the new mayor on engagement with the White House.

The two teams have generally been in lockstep, and that’s not likely to change soon. De Blasio has already visited Obama in the White House as part of a group of mayors, and although two sources said a repeat visit isn’t in the cards anytime soon, those who know the New York politician says he’s been able to start building his relationship with the president without need for much advice.

“They’ve connected over shared values and agenda,” said one person familiar with the relationship. “Both (are) passionate about economic disparities. It’s been a very naturally forming relationship. Both have urban sensibilities and they’re both a bit bookish with acute sense of the echoes of history.”

All of that will be important as natural tensions are likely to arise going forward. De Blasio’s going to want attention from the federal government that Obama probably won’t be able to give, and Obama’s going to be pressured to respond more fully to the kind of progressive politics that de Blasio represents.

Rahm Emanuel

With Bloomberg exiting the stage, the role of “mayor among mayors” is now open, and it’s a void that both de Blasio and the Chicago mayor seem keen to fill.

So Emanuel raised a few eyebrows when he praised Bloomberg in a tweet on Dec. 30, writing: “Most importantly, @MikeBloomberg expanded the bounds of what cities can achieve — opportunity, safety, and accessibility.”

It was a nod to Bloomberg that described him in the larger-than-life terms that he himself aspires to. De Blasio has been criticized as falling short of such prowess during his transition, which has been slow out of the gate.

Still, New York is New York. And Emanuel’s election in Chicago got a fraction of the national media focus that de Blasio’s did.

In the end, the pair could find it easier to cooperate than compete. After all, they share a similar set of concerns: crime, union contracts, pension costs.

Emanuel, a former congressman and one-time chief of staff for Obama, met privately with de Blasio soon after the New York City primary. And just ahead of de Blasio’s inauguration Wednesday, the Chicago leader tweeted: Congrats to Mayor @BilldeBlasio on his first day building a strong, prosperous NYC.

Michael Bloomberg

Bloomberg at one point called de Blasio’s campaigning “racist.” But since de Blasio won the Democratic primary _ effectively winning the whole race _ the outgoing mayor has publicly declined to criticize his successor and has said he doesn’t want his aides to, either. People familiar with Bloomberg say he’s kept that practice up in private, too.

How long the detente lasts remains to be seen, especially after a de Blasio inauguration in which criticism of Bloomberg’s policies was commonplace, and thanks for his service were scant.

There are few people de Blasio owes his election to more than Bloomberg, though that wasn’t by the latter’s design. De Blasio capitalized on an anti-Wall Street populism and a sense of alienation among wide swaths of the city’s voters, who suffered during the prolonged recession and felt the improvements the billionaire mayor made to the city largely sidestepped them.

That fact was on full display during the televised de Blasio inauguration — the former mayor sat rigidly as speaker after speaker effectively denounced his tenure. Even de Blasio, who did thank the mayor for his time in office, made it clear that he views his own ascension as a sharp departure from his predecessor.

There has never been much love lost between de Blasio, who’s close with some of the city’s union leaders, and Bloomberg; in both style and substance, they are opposites. De Blasio’s “tale of two cities” mantra was aimed squarely at Bloomberg. The latter’s description of the Democratic candidate’s message as “racist” and reminiscent of class warfare drew widespread criticism.

With all that said, it’s easy to assume that de Blasio thinks he doesn’t need his predecessor. But Bloomberg is one of the world’s wealthiest people, a mogul whose corporate ties in the city run deep. His social circle contains some of the Masters of the Universe who can make life difficult for de Blasio if they grow concerned with how he’s governing.

Cynthia Nixon

The “Sex and the City” actress was prominently featured at de Blasio’s inauguration — she sat on the stage and gave a short speech introducing one of the day’s performers.